Millions of people suffer from lower back problems. Treatments for lower back pain, while readily available, are inconvenient and expensive. The most common treatment of lower back pain to reduce compression of or pressure on the lower back. The reduction of compression of the lower back allows the muscles to stretch and relax and the cartilage to decompress and open fluid passageways through the lower back to relieve pain and increase range of movement. Chiropractic techniques manually manipulate the back to increase blood flow around the spine and through the muscles supporting the spine. Massage therapy techniques seeks to provide the same manual relaxation of the muscles and to promote blood flow. However, both chiropractic and massage therapies commonly require appointments to be made in advance, while lower back pain is frequently acute pain that is caused by daily activities that may not correlate conveniently to a treatment schedule. The appointment structure of chiropractic and massage therapy, therefore, is less than ideal to treat acute lower back pain.
A number of at-home devices and/or techniques are available for treating lower back pain that allow for the decompression of the lower back. A common device for the treatment of lower back pain at home is an inversion table. An inversion table allows a user to restrain their feet at a base of the inversion table and then manually invert themselves and the table to substantially reverse the force of gravity on the user's back. Inversion tables are large and expensive, however, and require the user to be physically inverted. Inversion may be hazardous to the health of some individuals, as the inversion process alters the blood flow and pressure of the blood to sensitive areas, such as the brain, lungs, and heart. Furthermore, inversion may cause general discomfort and/or nausea in some users, deterring the use of an inversion table. An inversion table also requires the user to lie against the table, either on the user's back or front. The user's range of movement is therefore limited as the balance of the inversion table will be altered if the user tried to bend at the back and/or waist, and the user's torsional range of movement is also limited as their feet are restrained and they are lying with their shoulders against the flat table surface.
Thus, an affordable and simple device for the decompression of the lower back that is usable in a home environment without requiring the inversion of the user and without restricting their movement may be desirable.